


I'll Take Care of You

by janiformJackle



Category: Homestuck
Genre: somewhat ooc condesce
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-02
Updated: 2013-02-06
Packaged: 2017-11-17 15:18:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/552994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janiformJackle/pseuds/janiformJackle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now the Empress knelt down in the sand beside him, a cruel, fascinated smile pulling at her lips and revealing far too many teeth. “Oh, my,” she whispered softly, reaching out to place one cool hand under his jaw, cupping it, turning his head from side to side. Her smile grew into a grin, her eyes flashing with malicious intent. She leaned in close and breathed into his ear, “Aren’t you precious? Don’t fret, little one… I’ll take care of you.”</p><p>Edit: I started this before we saw the Condesce in canon, and my interpretation of her was different than how she's now been revealed to be, but I don't plan on changing it, for the sake of consistency.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just a thing I started a while ago and am now posting to see what you guys think. If people like it, perhaps I'll finish it. Things don't get NSFW until chapter 7.

  
It happened in the space of a few seconds. One minute, Eridan Ampora had turned to slip below the deck of his ship for a few moments; the next, there was a huge, violent explosion that tossed him to the ground, resulting in the painful and dizzying smack of his head hitting wood. As his vision swam and he tried to regain himself, there was a bright white light everywhere, and that was when his body gave out and he slipped into unconsciousness. It only felt like a few minutes had passed before he was slowly floating back to awareness, though, lying on his back in what felt like sand, with the stars and the pink and green Alternian moons looking down at him from the dark night sky. Well, that was fortunate; otherwise he’d have burned to a crisp by now. But his head still hurt and he was too dizzy to move; he felt like he’d been trampled by musclebeasts. He groaned softly to himself and shut his eyes again. He was all alone, completely soaked, weak as a wriggler, and had lost his ship.  
  
Perfect.  
  
He wasn’t really sure how long he lay in the sand for. It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours, but all he could do was lie there and listen to the sound of the water nearby, to the sound of his own weak heartbeat, the rise and fall of his chest. He could feel himself slipping, slowly but surely. He didn’t have to see himself to know that the damage was bad; there was a gash in his forehead that leaked his precious violet blood, and the pain in his side indicated damaged gills and cracked ribs. Those damned gills. So fucking sensitive. Now he was paying for it, to be sure.  
Without really knowing why, Eridan started counting in his head, mentally ticking off the seconds for lack of anything better to do. He was in the four-digit zone when his mind started to flicker, black spots beginning to creep in on the edges of his vision, distracting his thoughts. He groaned to himself and turned his head to one side, letting half his face rest against the sand, which stuck to him like a wriggler reunited with its lusus. The fins on his face started to quiver with the effort it took to suck in each breath and push it out again. I’m dyin’, he realized, a cold feeling hardening in his stomach. He was dying, his body was failing him, and he was going to lose the fight out here, all alone in the sand, with nobody to help him or say goodbye. It was a painful thought, but not as painful as his injuries, which were really taking their toll.  
  
Eridan fought with everything he had to stay awake. He didn’t want to close his eyes, didn’t want to let death win. He was a seadweller, godammit. He was not going to die like this, so pitifully, so pathetically. He grit his teeth and stared resolutely up at the stars and the moons until their images had engraved themselves into his retinas. Don’t fall asleep, he told himself sternly. Don’t fall asleep, don’t fuckin’ fall asleep you piece of shit. Keep your eyes open. Do it. Livve. Survvivve.  
  
He was so wrapped up in his own internal argument that he didn’t hear the footsteps approaching in the sand, making soft crunching noises that were barely audible over the sound of the water nearby. He didn’t notice the presence, so graceful and powerful, until something sharp jabbed his side—thankfully, his non-injured side. It wasn’t quite hard enough to pierce the skin, but enough to wake him up a little and get his attention. With a groan, he shifted his unfocused vision onto the fuzzy outline of the troll towering over him. Tall, regal, with an extraordinary mane of black hair and incredible horns that stood proudly atop the stranger’s head. All of these traits should have been obvious enough clues as to who exactly had found him, but it wasn’t until Eridan saw the trident, the weapon that had poked him just now, that he realized who was standing over him. His breath caught in his throat. No. No way. Impossible. That could not possibly be her… Except it was. It was so clearly her, and a jolt of terror shot down his spine. “Your Highness,” he breathed.  
  
The Empress of Alternia, her Imperious Condescension, bent forward slowly, wordlessly, to bring herself closer to the young troll she’d discovered. Eridan soaked in every detail of her face— and what a beautiful face it was; there was no denying that! But it was a terrible, terrible beauty that made him shiver with apprehension. He lay completely still in the sand while she scrutinized him, watching those keen, cold eyes analyzing him. It made his throat feel tight and dry, and brought a breath of relief from his lips when she finally straightened up again, bringing her mass of wild hair with her.  
  
Eridan’s relief was short-lived, however. Now the Empress knelt down in the sand beside him, a cruel, fascinated smile pulling at her lips and revealing far too many teeth. “Oh, my,” she whispered softly, reaching out to place one cool hand under his jaw, cupping it, turning his head from side to side. Her smile grew into a grin, her eyes flashing with malicious intent. She leaned in close and breathed into his ear, “Aren’t you precious? Don’t fret, little one… I’ll take care of you.”  
  
The strongest shiver yet ripped through Eridan’s tiny, battered frame and he tried to recoil, but the Condesce simply tightened her grip on his jaw, keeping him nice and close, just where she wanted him. “Don’t fight,” she warned in a quiet hiss. It was a startlingly gentle tone, but a hint of something far worse lay hidden underneath— a threatening demeanour that assured him he’d be wise to follow her words. It wasn’t as if he had much of a choice, really; he was too weak to move, and even if he wasn’t, what could he do against her? She was the Empress. The fucking Condescension. She’d snap him in half the second he gave her reason to. So he stopped trying to pull away from her, swallowing past the lump in his throat and rasping, “Yes, your Highness.”  
  
This seemed to please her immensely. That nasty grin returned to her lips and she chuckled, a sound that was eerily close to Feferi’s, only darker, much darker, and filled with menace. She stroked his cheek thoughtfully, gazing down at him like a new trophy she’d just won, one that she couldn’t wait to adorn a shelf with. Then she ruffled his hair and stood up, turning and placing two fingers in her mouth. A sharp whistle cut through the air a second later, making Eridan flinch, and there was a moment of stillness before feet came pattering through the sand, kicking up small clouds of dust behind them. Two servants, Eridan saw, lowblooded trolls who had obviously served the Condesce a long time. It wasn’t that they looked old— oh no, not at all— but the looks on their faces, that battered, broken defeat, spoke volumes. They cast him brief looks of pity before bowing to their mistress, loyally awaiting their orders. The Empress smirked and nodded in Eridan’s direction. “Pick him up,” she instructed. “Carry him this way, and do be careful. Wouldn’t want the poor thing getting even more injuries, would we? Not just yet.”  
  
Only as he was being lifted into the air did Eridan fully register what he’d just heard, and his eyes went wide with dread. He wanted to struggle in the lowbloods’ grip, but he had no energy left, none whatsoever. It was like he’d been paralyzed. “No,” he whispered hoarsely, as they began to carry him forward. “No, no, no no…” But there was nothing he could do. They marched forward wordlessly, the Condesce’s lithe form swaying triumphantly in front of them, and Eridan found his consciousness slipping. The Empress’s ship hadn’t even come into view yet before he was swept up in a welcoming curtain of darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

The feel of something poking at Eridan’s lips was what woke him up. He groaned and squeezed his eyes shut, then let them flutter slowly open to see who was bothering him— and, more importantly, where he was. Unfortunately for him, neither answer was a good one. He took in the sight of the Empress sitting on his bedside, legs crossed and an amused smile tugging at her lips. She had a vial of some strange purple liquid and had been attempting to get it into his mouth, but paused when she saw he’d woken up. In response to his look of irritation and disgust, she grinned that same shark-toothed grin that she’d given him before. “Look who’s finally awake,” she purred with delight. “My, I was almost getting worried! What a shame it would be to lose my new toy before I even got to try him out.”

                Eridan didn’t like the sound of that at all, and he had a feeling he probably wasn’t supposed to, judging by the peacefully sadistic look on her face as she watched him. He found himself slowly curling his upper lip, wanting to fling himself out of bed and dash for the nearest exit— but just thinking about all that movement made his stomach churn with protest, and he grimaced. Since he couldn’t go anywhere, he figured he may as well talk and see what he could learn. “Wwhat is that?” he demanded, his voice raw and hoarse with thirst. He nodded his chin towards the vial. “Wwhat wwere you tryin’ to do to me?”

                The Empress smiled passively down at him and ran her fingers through his hair in a way that could almost be loving, if not for how her nails dragged across his scalp, at just the right pressure to be threateningly painful but not too bad. He winced. “This is medicine, little one,” she told him idly. “To help you heal. You most definitely took a beating, and I can’t have you being all broken and battered before the real fun starts! So drink up. It’ll assist in your recovery.” She pressed the vial to his lips again, but her face twisted into a dangerous scowl when he refused to part them. She locked her eyes onto his and stared him down, hard. He quailed a little, but refused to back down; there was no way he wanted that shit, whatever it was, getting into his system. For all he knew it could be a poison that would kill him slowly and painfully just for her amusement.

                When he still refused to budge, the Empress pressed her lips together tightly, then gave a dramatic sigh. “Always so stubborn, at the start,” she remarked wistfully. Without giving him a chance to reply, she grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked, _hard_ , all the way back. He opened his mouth in a cry of pain that was cut off by a muffled yelp as the Condesce shoved the vial into his mouth before he could stop her. He struggled and tried to push her away, but she was relentless, and the liquid started trickling down his throat, feeling like it was burning all the way down. He was left choking and gasping as she pulled away, fins flared and face bright violet. He swore, and received a slap for his troubles.

                “Language,” the Empress scolded, in response to which she was given a scowl. She simply smiled and patted him on the side of the face, then stood to start making her way towards the door. “Now then. That medicine ought to speed up your recovery fairly well. We royals have the best of the best, as I’m sure you know.” She winked at him, and the action made him want to throw up almost as much as the medicine did.

                “Wwhat do you wwant from me?” he demanded bitterly, glaring up at her from beneath drawn eyebrows. “Wwhat did I do? I wwasn’t breakin’ any lawws. You havve no reason to bring me here.” At this, the Condesce’s face darkened. She stopped in her tracks and was silent for a few moments, unmoving, until she finally turned and took a few careful, measured steps forward so she was right at the side of his bed. There, she leaned forward and placed one jeweled hand on either side of the young troll’s body so that she was bent over him, her face mere inches away from his. He went completely still, cold fear shooting through him once again. Slowly, she brought her lips right to his ear, just as she’d done when she’d first discovered him.

                “I’m the Empress of Alternia,” she whispered darkly. “I am her Imperious Condescension. I rule this planet, and everyone who lives on it. Do you understand, little guppy? You didn’t have to break any laws. I could make up a law right now just to keep you here, if I wanted to. But I don’t need to, because nobody is going to stop me. I saw you, and I wanted you, and now you’re mine. And the sooner you learn to accept that, the sooner things will start to be better off for you.” She nipped his ear, a quick little bite that could almost have been playful if not for the menacing aura that surrounded her, and then she pulled back to meet his eyes again. “Am I clear?”

                Eridan stared up at her with wide, frightened eyes, his head reeling with disbelief. Holy shit. She was fucking _terrifying_. Absolutely, one hundred percent terrifying. He swallowed, feeling a lump forming in his throat, and gave a single, shaky nod. “Yes, your Highness,” was all he could manage to choke out in his terrified state.

                There were a few moments of silent in which nobody moved. The Empress stared Eridan down intently, unblinking and unrelenting, and he stared back silently, wondering how much more it would take for his heart to pump right out of his chest. Finally, at a deliberately slow pace, she pulled away and straightened up, then smiled calmly. “Good,” she cooed, ruffling his hair in a sickening mockery of affection, as if absolutely nothing at all had happened. She almost looked cheerful now, in fact, and it was extremely unnerving; he waited for her to drop the act and do something, _anything_ evil, but she didn’t. She grabbed the blanket at the end of the bed and pulled it up to his shoulders, smoothing it above his body while he lay there, refusing to move a muscle. With a final, appreciative pat on the side of his face, she turned and started heading to the door. “Rest up, now, darling,” she advised in a sing-song voice. “I’m only going to give you a day to get as much sleep as you can! You’ll need all the energy you can get, so don’t waste what precious time you have.” With that, she shut off the light, left the room, and locked the door, plunging him into complete darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> formatting is an absolute bitch man what the hell

                For lack of anything better to do, Eridan slept. He was loathe to obey anything that witch told him to do, but he really didn’t have much of a choice; there wasn’t a speck of light in the room to help him explore, not even coming from under the door. He tried getting up and walking around at first, but it was hopeless. He was on his face in a matter of seconds. With a sigh, he scratched that idea out of his head and returned to his bed, where, surprisingly quickly, he fell fast asleep.

                As much as he hated to admit it, the Empress had been right about one thing— he’d needed a good rest. He’d been absolutely exhausted, and the aches and pains in his body hadn’t helped either, but when he woke up again, they were significantly less bad. Hardly noticeable, in fact. The fact made him smile at first, until he remembered that it was probably the work of whatever mysterious liquid she’d forced him to drink the night before. After a few moments of just lying there in the silent darkness, Eridan finally opened his eyes and sat up, only to find that he really may as well have kept his eyes closed, because it was still pitch black. Trolls had fairly good vision in darkness, but they needed some source of light, even if it was tiny, in order to use this ability. Without any light to reflect off their eyes, they were helpless, and this was the first time he personally had ever experienced this. He wondered if the Empress had made it intentionally this dark in here, or if it was just an unlucky coincidence. Probably the former.

                The young seadweller climbed out of bed and felt out in front of him with his hands until he reached a wall, which he clung to like a lifeline. From there he felt his way all the way around the room until he reached what felt like the door; indeed, his hands gripped a handle, and he knew for sure this was what he was looking for when it didn’t open for him, as expected. Alright, so he’d found the door. _Great job,_ he thought. _Noww wwhat?_ He thought for a few moments, then shrugged as an idea came to him. There was nothing to lose. With that reassurance, Eridan began to pound his fists against the door and call out at the top of his lungs, wondering what troll might happen to pass by and hear him.

                It didn’t take him long to find out.

                Without warning the door flung itself open rather forcefully, and a huge blueblood built like a wall filled the doorway with a snarl on his face— a snarl that Eridan could not see, thanks to the sudden burst of light that left him blinded and in mild pain. He stumbled back until he fell, rubbing his eyes in a desperate attempt at clearing the spots from them. When that was successful, he looked up at the figure that had entered his room, and swallowed hard at the sight of the troll, who was obviously more than a little pissed off.

                The blueblood didn’t give Eridan a chance to react before storming forward and drawing his arm across his chest in a clear wind-up to give him a back-handed slap. In the instant it took the other troll to swing, the seadweller managed to shove himself forward with his arms, sliding right between his assailant’s legs and continuing through until he was behind the troll. Acting purely on instinct now, he launched himself to his feet and delivered a swift kick to the blueblood’s hindquarters, then turned and bolted for the door. In a few swift movements he had it shut and locked, and he could hear the howl of rage that came from the other side as he slumped against the thin strip of wood separating him from one considerably angry troll. He let out a long breath of relief through his teeth, letting his heart rate slowly climb back down to normal. Holy shit that had been close. He hadn’t even known what to expect from his yelling and banging on the door, but he was glad he’d done it, because, with a rapidly growing grin, he realized he was officially one step closer to escaping. He’d gotten out of his room, and now all he had to do was find a way out of whatever this place was— probably the Empress’s palace.

The door was shaking behind him, battered by the blueblood’s fruitless efforts at breaking his way out, but Eridan wasn’t eager to stick around long enough to see just how long they’d be fruitless. He stepped away from the room and regarded it with a wrinkled nose, wondering how much time he would have before someone heard the commotion going on. Hopefully enough time to get far enough away to be considered safe. He glanced to his left and his right, taking in the stretch of hallway that went on in both directions, then decided to go right and headed off in that direction. He had no reason for picking that way other than a childish hope that right would, in fact, be right.

He wandered for what felt like hours, walking around the palace aimlessly, ducking into the shadows every so often when a troll passed him by. Most of them were lowblooded servants that rushed by with their heads bowed, but occasionally a higher blood would walk by, looking tall and strong and proud. They reminded him of the blueblood that had attacked him earlier, and he decided that they were probably guards of some sort. That put a smile to his lips. Shitty guards they were if they didn’t even realize he’d escaped yet. None of them seemed to be alarmed or in a rush, just casually carrying out patrol duty, which hinted at the possibility that he hadn’t been discovered just yet. That was good.

What surprised him a little, though, was that he hadn’t seen any windows yet. No windows in a palace as grand as this one seemed strange. Perhaps he was simply not in the right area for that? He hoped to find one soon, because the sooner he knew where, exactly, he was, the sooner he could plan what to do once he got out.

Several halls and a few close encounters later, Eridan found something that looked like it could be just what he needed. It wasn’t a door or a window, but a square panel in the wall, made of shiny grey steel, which was labelled as “waste disposal”. His face lit up with excitement. This could lead somewhere. He checked to make sure there was nobody coming in either direction, then sidled up to the panel and examined it, running his fingers along the metal, wondering how it opened. He tried simply pushing, but that had no effect. Then he noticed a switch near the bottom right corner, protected by a plastic cover, and he knelt down to examine it. Seeing nothing else, he decided that this must be what he was looking for— if not, he’d be at a loss. With a shrug to himself, he lifted the cover and flicked the switch up.

Several things happened at once. He jumped back with a start as there was a loud hiss from the panel, but the real fright came when three loud _blips_ radiated through the halls— perhaps even the entire palace. It sounded like an alarm of some sorts, but before Eridan could think about bolting, his eyes were drawn to the wall again, and he drew in a sharp breath. No. No way. That couldn’t be right; he must have been delirious… But no amount of rubbing his eyes or cleaning his glasses changed what he saw. The panel had opened to reveal a gaping hole in the wall, and past the wall was not a chute or even just a long fall to a pile of waste below. There was nothing. Quite literally nothing— the vast expanse of nothing that was outer space, stretching on forever just beyond the wall. A faint draft was tugging at him, as though urging him to take a step out, but he resisted.

Just a few feet away from the outer wall, there was a sort of shimmering light that Eridan quickly realized must have been a force field of some sort, stopping the air from escaping and people from being sucked out into space. Wasn’t that thoughtful. Trembling a little bit, Eridan flicked the switch back down and watched the panel slide shut again with another low hiss, sealing off the black emptiness beyond.

Before he could do anything else, Eridan heard several pairs of footsteps thundering down the hall, snapping him out of his momentary reverie. Alarmed, he darted into the first door he saw and shut it behind him, then slid down to sit with his back against it, breathing as quietly as possible. It was dark in whatever room he’d just arrived in, but not as dark as the room the Empress had initially put him in, and his eyes adjusted quickly. It looked like some kind of storage closet. He sucked in his breath and held it while he listened to the footsteps closing in on the area just outside the door. Voices started up.

“Well?” one of them snapped, sounding rough and a little out of breath.

“Nothin’,” another muttered irritably.

There was a loud thud that sounded suspiciously like someone kicking or punching a nearby wall, and Eridan could feel the vibrations in his back through the door he was leaning against. He swallowed hard and took another quiet breath to hold.

“Where the hell’d the guy go, then?” the winded-sounded voice demanded.

“How should I know? Probably got spooked by the alarm an’ took off. D’you think it was him?”

Eridan stiffened. Who was “him”?

“Who else could it be?” a new voice drawled. It was female, and it sounded young and confident. Maybe the leader of the group, or just the highest ranked. “Nobody on this ship opens that panel other than when it’s scheduled. It must have been him. The little brat has the nerve to escape and then stumbles a hole in the wall that practically screams ‘escape’; of course he’s going to go for it. Guess he realized it was a mistake, though.” All three voices snickered.

“We’ll find him,” the woman continued idly. “Her Highness will have our heads if we don’t, but not to worry. He’ll have realized there’s no getting off this ship by now, and with that realization will come desperation for an alternative. He’ll get frightened and make mistakes. Soon enough the little prince will be back on a leash again, just like he ought to be.”

There was another round of snickering, and the footsteps began to fade off into the distance. Inside the storage block, Eridan let out a quivering breath, one hand pressed over his mouth. His thinkpan was reeling with shock and terror. They’d discovered him. They knew he’d escaped now, and they were looking. But that wasn’t the worse part. He could’ve dealt with that knowledge, if not for one problem that really turned his blood to ice.

Even if he did manage to keep avoiding them, he’d run out of places to hide eventually. There was nowhere to go, no place to escape to.

Eridan Ampora had landed himself in space, on the Battleship Condescension.


	4. Chapter 4

          The engine block was pitch black, just the way she liked it to be. Not a spec of light to be seen, not even by the humming machinery that surrounded him, constantly filling his ears with their monotonous drone. _Whrrrrr, whrrrrr, whrrrrr…_ The same thing day in and day out, even when the ship wasn’t moving— because while the engines were silent, the whirring didn’t stop in his head. It had embedded itself there, imprinted itself in his mind after so long hearing nothing but that and occasional silence.

                Most days it wasn’t too much of a strain. Most days he could just slump there in the ship’s grip, not thinking about anything, letting the power hum out of him in time with the engines. It wasn’t comfortable, and it was mind-numbing to say the least, but it wasn’t blindingly painful— not like when she decided she wanted to go faster. When the Empress of Alternia demanded that her ship go faster, be it for a legitimate reason or simply to torment him, the Psiioniic really felt the sting of exertion that was placed on him even after they’d slowed down again. Red and blue light would be cast jerkily onto the walls, sending shadows flitting here and there thanks to the psionic energy pouring from his eyes. The whirring of the engines would become a loud, unrelenting drone that hurt his ears, broken only by the howls of pain that escaped through his teeth. She didn’t give him the option of not hurting himself. His only choices were to comply and boost the speed himself, or have electricity pumped through him in order to spur the power out of him. He knew which option he liked least, even if neither was pleasant.

                The Psiioniic knew the entire ship like the back of his hand. He was quite literally wired into it, and he knew everything that went on, everything that happened— at least, he could if he wanted to, but most times he just tuned it out and hung from his bonds. Only on rare occasions would he bother checking in to see what was happening throughout the ship. Just recently, for example, he’d observed a young seadwelling prince being taken in as an obvious prisoner of sorts— or a pet. One or the other. The wriggler had probably earned himself a life with the Empress by being too arrogant and trying to show off, or something like that. They always were too full of themselves, those highblooded, seadwelling brats. He felt no pity for the boy. Then again, he didn’t ever really feel anything anymore, emotion-wise. It would take more than an unfortunate violet-blood to get a reaction out of him, to be sure.

                An approaching noise broke him out of his mental musings, and the Psiioniic turned his head just a fraction, blank eyes staring expectantly into the darkness. Footsteps: fast, confident clicks on the metal walkways nearby, indicating a presence heading toward him. He didn’t even have to check his mental view of the ship to know that it was the Condesce approaching, and he waited blankly, wondering if she was coming to demand more speed once again. He stifled a sigh to himself. Always so impatient, she was.

                The door to the block opened and light flooded everything, chasing out the darkness and momentarily blinding him. He shut his eyes tightly until the spots cleared from his vision, and when he opened them again, he was met with the Condesce’s face about a foot away from his. His expression stayed deadpan, almost uninterested, even— except he’d never outwardly express disinterest, lest it be taken as an insult and merit punishment. No, he was simply deadpan. Completely and utterly deadpan, expressionless as the machinery around him while he waited to see what she wanted.

                For a while silence reigned as the Empress simply observed him, as though waiting for something. She had an oddly peaceful expression on her face, like she could just stand there and stare at him all day without getting bored. It wouldn’t surprise him. She’d done it for hours on end, before. He was content to just hang there and watch her while she did as she pleased, like usual. Finally she gave a low sort of hum and brought one hand up to cup his cheek, an action to which he did not respond in the slightest, not even a blink. His eyes stayed trained on hers, and vice versa. She was a very tall troll, but she still had to look up at him slightly, thanks to how he was supported in the air, his feet a good foot or two off the ground.

                Her hand stayed on his cheek for several moments, until finally she dug her nails in just a little bit, then lowered her fingers to his shoulder, instead. She leaned up to plant a firm but brief kiss on his mouth, then kept her face close to hers while she smirked at him. “Ah, my Helmsman,” she murmured appreciatively. “My wonderful, all-seeing Helmsman. You really are my favourite, you know. Of all the slaves I’ve had over the years, you’ve been the best.” She giggled and leaned back again while her hand moved to rest on his hip, instead. She didn’t seem surprised by his continued silence.

                “I need a favour from you, darling,” she continued in a purr, idly tracing patterns on his side with the nail of her thumb. “As I’m sure you know, a little violet-blood was brought on to my ship recently. He truly is quite the adorable thing, but he’s not hive-trained, either, it seems.” She tsked and shook her head. “He’s run off and is hiding from us, and I’m oh-so-worried that he might get himself lost or hurt. Everyone will be better off once he’s back where I can see him… don’t you agree?” She paused to let him answer, but of course he didn’t, because he knew he wasn’t actually meant to. She smiled smugly when he didn’t. Oh, he was well-trained.

                “So then, my dear Helmsman. You’ll help me find him, won’t you? I know just what a magnificent view you have of my ship, and I know you can locate him for me.” Without warning she leaned up again and placed both her hands on the side of his face, pressing their foreheads close together, filling his vision with her cold tyrian eyes. “Show me,” she hissed, squeezing his face lightly between her hands. “Show me now, my pet.”

                He complied, of course. He closed his eyes and let his mind’s vision flood into hers, the sights of his mind’s eye filling her own. She hummed her approval, a signal for him to go on, and he quickly went to work scanning the entirety of the ship, letting her view it as she pleased. She could see the servants in the halls, scrubbing so that they shined; she could see the guards patrolling with stiff backs and tight grips on their weapons. Her mental eyes roamed the hallways and scanned each room for signs of life, looking for that telltale flicker behind doors. Rooms that were occupied by larger flickers were obviously rooms inhabited by adults, and that was the Empress’s advantage: the violet-blooded guppy’s life sign would be small and fragile, just like him.

                It didn’t take her long at all to find him. There he was, crouching in a tiny little storage block like the frightened wriggler he was. She grinned with smug satisfaction and pulled away from the Psiioniic, breaking the connection between them. He opened his eyes and watched her silently with a baleful expression, to which she rolled her eyes and jabbed at the side of his mouth with one finger, pushing it upwards and revealing the fangs on that side. “Smile a little, darling,” she drawled with a cruel look of amusement in her eyes. She quickly tired of that, though, and pulled her hand back. Without explanation, she turned on her heel and glided gracefully back to the door, where she paused to turn and grin at him. Before she left and shut the door, she gave him one last command that he promptly obeyed, of course.

 “Lock that room, love,” she instructed him in a self-satisfied purr. “Let’s see just how long my little guppy can last in there.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you guys actually want more of this or should I leave it be

Chapter 5

Eridan still hadn’t quite calmed himself down from the events that had just transpired when the click of a lock made him jump. His attention was immediately drawn to the door against his back and he leapt to his feet, leaning down to examine the handle. Breathlessly, he reached out a trembling hand to give it a pull. It refused him. He let out a hoarse little cry of disbelief and dread, slumping down to his knees and resting his head against the door with a thump. No, no, come on, that wasn’t fair! The fact that he’d been locked in was terrifying on its own, but the question of why— and by whom— the door had been locked in the first place was equally scary.  


Had he been discovered? Had someone, somehow, found out that he was hiding in here and decided to let him rot in here until they saw fit to let him out? If they saw fit? Would he be left to die in here as punishment for daring to defy the Empress, wicked witch that she was? He glanced around the dimly-lit room with a mixture of wariness and slowly-rising panic. Was there a camera in here? Had they been watching him the whole time? But the room looked completely empty, aside from a couple of boxes and sheets.  


Maybe he was overreacting. He tried to calm himself down, taking deep breaths and looking back to the door while he attempted to think rationally. Perhaps it was automated. Perhaps it locked by itself at a certain time, and he was just unfortunate to be in here at that very time. And perhaps, if he was very lucky, it would unlock itself again at another point in the near future. He managed to give a nervous little laugh at that idea, and pulled his knees to his chest. Oh, how he hoped this was the case. He didn’t want to think about the possibility of having been discovered, of being purposely left to die in this room that suddenly seemed far too small.  


For a while he just sat in the near-darkness, hugging himself loosely, trying not to imagine the walls closing in on him. He got up and snooped in the boxes, but they only empty jars and silverware and various cooking tools, along with a range of other useless, everyday things that would in no way help him to escape this place. He was praying for food, because by now his stomach felt like it was trying to eat itself, but the boxes yielded nothing edible for him. The sense of dread returned to him. Stuck in a tiny room with no food or water for an unknown amount of time, it was very difficult to keep himself from having an emotional breakdown.  


He tried the door again soon after that, tugging on it desperately, putting all his strength into getting the stupid thing open, but it wouldn’t budge. He tried throwing himself at it with all his weight, but he wasn’t a very heavy troll, and the door didn’t seem inclined to be going anywhere any time soon. With a groan of miserable defeat, he stepped away from the door and ran his fingers through his hair. Finally, he looked over at the sheets sitting on top of the boxes, and he sighed. It seemed there wasn’t much else he could do, at this point… So he took the sheets and tossed them together into a pile, then dropped down in it and curled up on his side. He may as well try to get some rest and save his energy… As he drifted off into blackness, he prayed over and over again to whatever gods existed that the door would be unlocked when he woke up.

\------------------------

The door wasn’t unlocked when he woke up. In fact, it didn’t open for quite a long time since that first day. Eridan had no way of knowing how long, exactly, he’d been locked up, but the pain in his stomach told him it must have been a few days at least. By the time he heard the telltale click of the lock opening, he was weak and delirious and his mind had gone completely blank. He was curled up on top of the blankets, lying limp in the flattened mould of himself that he’d created from not moving at all. He simply didn’t have the energy to move, and when the door finally opened and light flooded the room, the most response he gave was squeezing his eyes shut and letting out a quivering breath of anticipation.  


The new arrival clicked her tongue softly, and Eridan knew right away that there was no one else it could be aside from the Empress— not that he was surprised. When the door had opened after his first sleep, he’d come to accept the fact that he’d been purposely locked in here, and from then it was just a matter of if and when he’d be getting out alive. It seemed that he was, but considering to whom he was getting out, he didn’t know if that was such a good thing.  


He felt her shadow casting itself over him, shielding his eyes from the light, so he dared to open them slowly and glance up at her. His suspicions were confirmed; it was the Condesce, alright. He could only see her silhouette against the light, but he could imagine the twisted smirk on her face, and it made him glad he couldn’t see her expression just yet. She took a single, deliberate step forward to close the gap between them, then knelt at his side and tilted his head up to her with surprising gentleness. A single finger under his chin supported him so that he could look up at her.  


“My little guppy,” she sighed after a few moments of silence. “You just had to try and run, didn’t you? Ah, but you poor thing. You didn’t know you were on my ship, did you?” She chuckled softly. “What a shame. You could have saved yourself this whole ordeal if you’d only known from the start that there’d be no escape.” She gave his chin a little squeeze, almost affectionate in nature. “While I do hope you’ve learned something from your experience, do understand that you’ll have some privileges revoked nevertheless, now that you’ve shown you can’t be trusted. You can earn them back eventually, of course…” She winked. “…But you’ll have to work for it.”  


With that she leaned forward to slide one arm under his neck, around his shoulders, and the other under his knees. From there she lifted him up with obvious ease and held him close to her body, pleased with how he didn’t resist. Not that he could have. He obviously didn’t have a single ounce of energy left, which wasn’t something she was about to complain about. He was cute when he was this docile.  


The Empress straightened and turned, carrying him out of the storage closet and into the blinding light of the hallway, against which he winced. He stayed quiet and still while she carried him wordlessly, the sharp click of her heels on the polished floor ringing in his ears that had become so accustomed to almost complete silence for the past several days. He didn’t bother paying attention to where they were going, because he didn’t really care. Nowhere would be good, so it didn’t make much of a difference what her destination was. Nevertheless, he had enough energy to be just mildly surprised when they stepped into her throne room, of all places.  


Her lithe form glided smoothly down the length of the room to her throne at the end, upon which she lowered herself carefully without letting go of him. She cradled him for a few moments, looking deep in thought until her face hardened ever so slightly and her gaze flicked to his. She leaned forward to drop him unceremoniously at the foot of the throne, drawing a quiet yelp from his parched lips. He heard her snap her fingers, and two sets of footsteps scurried forth from some dark corner of the room. Servants.  


They seemed to know exactly what to do without being told. Hands grabbed at him and turned him over onto his back, receiving absolutely no resistance whatsoever— he was like a ragdoll, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Even when he felt them tugging his shirt up and over his head, sending a spike of terror through him, he couldn’t resist. Even when they yanked scarf and cape off, and then his pants, he couldn’t move a muscle. He was exposed now, feeling cold air rush over his bare skin, and then something even colder— metal. Cold metal touching his neck, wrapping around it, clamping shut just tight enough to put him on edge but not enough to hurt or choke him. There was the rattling of a chain, and then the weight of one as it was attached to the metal collar. When he craned his neck enough to look, he saw the other end attached to the arm of the throne. A cold feeling, icier than the very metal wrapped around him, settled in the pit of his stomach as dull realization washed over him.  


He’d lost the rights to both his privacy and his dignity, it seemed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating in so long... Life's a bit rough at the moment and I haven't even been on my laptop in months, much less in the mood to write. But I checked my email today and saw all these lovely comments, so I'm inspired to do my best to finish this story for you guys!

The servants scurried off, and there were a few moments of silence between the Empress and her new captive before the former let out a sort of satisfied purr. "You look so much nicer that way, little guppy," she cooed, wrapping her thin fingers around her end of the chain, giving it a gentle little tug, as though testing it. Eridan didn't respond. His thinkpan was reeling with everything that had just happened, on top of the lack of nutrition that made his head slow enough to begin with. He couldn't believe that he had actually ended up in a situation like this, out of everything that could have befallen him. What the hell had he done to deserve this? His gills were shaking in short spasms from the cold of the golden-tiled floor, and the fine hairs on his body all stood on edge, contrary to his own lack of alertness. All he could think about was how fucking hungry he was, and he wondered if he was going to have to sit up and beg or something equally stupid just so he wouldn't die of starvation. 

The Condesce answered that question quickly enough, though, as she leaned down and patted his hair thoughtfully. "You must be hungry right now, darling," she commented idly, observing him from her spot on the throne, looking down at him like a goddess over an ant. A soft groan of agreement was her response, and she clicked her tongue while shaking her head. "That won't do at all. Let's see what the servants can gather for you, shall we? After all, you're going to be needing quite a bit of energy soon enough... We can't have you starving, now, can we?" She snapped her fingers, and the sound echoed throughout the throne room's spacious interior to be met by an olive-blooded young girl who bowed at the foot of the throne, keeping a measured distance from Eridan. The Condesce motioned to him and ordered food to be brought, and the girl nodded, then took off through one of side doors concealed from Eridan's current view by a large golden pillar. 

Once they were alone again, the Empress clapped her hands once together and gave him a little nudge with the tip of her foot. "Go on then, sit up now," she urged cheerfully. "You can't eat lying down like that, now, can you?" Her voice made Eridan want to claw his own ears off, fins and all. He still felt too exhausted to move, but it was true that he'd have a difficult time eating whatever food was brought here, so, with great effort, he grit his teeth and pushed himself up into an unsteady sitting position at the foot of the throne. Before he could do anything else, like try to move forward and away from the Empress, he felt strong, thin legs wrap around his shoulders and drag him closer until he was leaning against the throne in between the Condesce's legs, much to his displeasure. The owner of the offending legs released a mischievous giggle and carded her nails lightly through Eridan's hair while her heels dug into his bare chest, keeping him in place and leaving him more than a little uncomfortable. "Oh, little guppy, you and I are going to have so much fun," she mused softly, seemingly more to herself than to him.

In the same moment, there was the click of a door opening and the olive-blooded girl returned with a medium-sized silver tray that she offered to the Empress with her head lowered respectfully. Crooning in delight, the Pisces accepted the tray and then shooed the girl back out of the room, grinning eagerly. She lifted the lid and unfolded her legs from Eridan's chest in order to lean forward so she could place the platter in front of him. He barely managed to keep the saliva in his mouth, at that point. There were two pieces of grubloaf, a grub-noodle soup, a glass of water and a bowl of deep purple grapes. Normally it would barely be enough to earn a sideways glance before he turned the pitiful offering away, but right now it was like a meal fit for a king, and he was scarfing it down in an instant while the Empress leaned over him and watched. "Good boy," she purred encouragingly, her voice soft and barely audible. With some food in his nutrient sack and a little bit of proper rest, he'd be all ready for the rest of what she had in store for him.

Once he had finished the meal, Eridan couldn't deny that he felt a lot better than he had before. Not good as new, of course, but his limbs didn't feel like lead anymore, and he could think a little more clearly now. As he pushed the tray away and started to stretch his weary legs, the Condesce gave a little tug on his chain as if to remind him that she was there, and didn't plan on being forgotten. "Now I think it's time you got some rest," she told the young Aquarius, and Eridan decided that that was not something against which he would protest. So, when he nodded his agreement, she picked him up once again-- he wasn't quite as fond of that, but at least he didn't have to walk-- and began making her way to the large main doors of the throne room that they had entered in. From there she continued straight over to a large winding staircase, and by the time she'd reached the top, even with him in her arms, she hadn't even broken a sweat. Eridan couldn't help being a little bit impressed. The Empress was stronger than she looked-- not that that was a good thing for him, he reminded himself...

They advanced down a long, winding hall, but didn't walk very far down it: the muffled footsteps of high heels on the fuchsia rug that spanned the hallway came to a halt, and the Empress turned halfway on the spot in order to nudge the door at which they'd arrived. Inside was a familiar room, where Eridan had first been put before trying to escape. Now he could actually see what the place looked like, and his wandering eyes were met with a large bed covered in violet sheets up against the far area of a the circular room. Little fuchsia waves lined the bottom and top of the wall, and a small, curved bookcase occupied one area of the room. It had maybe ten of fifteen books in it. Eridan had just enough time to spot the couch beside it before he was dropped into the bed and his visual tour was cut short. Looking pleased with herself, the Condesce stood over him with a smile that was probably supposed to be friendly and set to work wrapping him up in the blankets before moving on to attach her end of his chain to one of the bed posts. It was another unpleasant reminder that he was far from being a willing guest here.

While he was happy for the warmth and privacy that the sheets provided him, Eridan was still wary and tense as he watched the Empress fret over him until she decided that he was suitably tucked in. Then she sat next to him. "How lovely to be back here again, him?" she remarked coolly. "I bet you missed it. I'll admit you set the schedule back a little bit, but by tomorrow we should be back on track." She reached into a pocket that Eridan didn't even know existed-- since when did that suit even have pockets?-- and produced a vial that he recognized right away. "You know how it goes, guppy," she said as she uncapped it and swirled the purple liquid around. "I want you up and ready by tomorrow, and I won't be taking any pity if you don't feel better, so you'd better drink this again, understand?" She pressed the glass to his lips, and after a moment he reluctantly complied, knowing she would just force him if he bothered to resist. The medicine burned its way down his throat once more, and he grimaced and shivered with disgust. Finally he opened his mouth to speak.

"Wwhat are you gonna do?" he demanded wearily, his wavy accent even heavier in his fatigue. "Wwhat's so special 'bout tomorroww, huh?"

At that, the Empress gave him a wide grin, showing off her teeth once again. 

"Tomorrow, my precious little guppy," she purred softly as she ran a hand through his hair, "is when your training begins! So be ready." With that, she cackled and left the room, plunging him back into darkness as she went. In the silence that followed, anyone listening closely might have caught the silent whispering of "fuck" from the dismayed seadweller before he fell asleep once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wondering what's up with the lack of recuperacoons I'm going with the headcanon that adult trolls sleep on beds so Eridan gets to suck it up and deal with it


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's where things get nsfw, friends. ALSO even though the Condesce's personality has been canonically revealed, I'm still gonna go with how I wrote her beforehand. :Y

Something shifted around Eridan, and the faint movement dragged him slowly and unwillingly out of his dreamless sleep. He stirred ever so slightly, and tried convincing himself that there was definitely not something leaning over him right now, that he should just go back to sleep and not pay attention to anything ever, but his attempt was fruitless. He could feel warm breath ghosting over him, and a knot of dread overtook his stomach. There was no way that he was going to like what he saw when he opened his eyes. 

"Fuck," he breathed. His suspicions has been confirmed.

The gleeful face of the Condesce was hovering over him, a curtain of hair enclosing his face on both sides, blocking the outside world and leaving him with nothing to look at but excited, malicious eyes and lips parted in an eager, toothy grin. The rest of her was stretched out over top of his body, dwarfing him. "Good evening, guppy," she cooed. "I hope you remember what today is." That stirred his memory a little bit, and her words from yesterday revisited him. Training, she had said. What the hell did training even mean? Training for what? As if reading his mind, she laughed and sat back slowly, revealing details that Eridan had failed to notice until now. She was naked. She had not a scrap of clothing on her, aside from her various rings and bangles that probably never left her body, and the thin sheets covering him were the only things separating the two of them. "You're my new pet, little guppy," she explained sweetly. "And I like to make sure my pets know all the tricks."

Ah, shit. A dozen thoughts raced through Eridan's thinkpan even as he was frozen in place, staring unwittingly at the Empress's glorious body perched on top of his own frail one that paled in comparison, both literally and figuratively. She had an incredible set of breasts that hung proudly; not absurdly large, but enough to hold his attention whether he wanted them to or not. Lowering his eyes slowly informed him that her skin was practically flawless, with as lovely of an hourglass shape as her bodysuit suggested when she wore it. Finally, his eyes rose again, and realized he'd been staring for far too long, if the smug look on the Empress's face was anything to go by. He opened his mouth with an indignant look, but could do nothing more than flounder helplessly for something to say even as a bright violet blush rushed to his cheeks and facial fins. The Condesce giggled. 

"I know, darling," she crooned. "I know. But we're hardly being fair here, are we? If I'm to sit here naked, then I don't think you really deserve these sheets, do you? Let's be rid of these pesky things..." She grabbed the edges and began to tug, and it was at that point that Eridan snapped out of his stupor, and panic kicked in. Instinctively his hands tightened into an iron grip around the sheets and he yanked them back from the Condesce's hands, dragging them as close to his body as he could and holding them there. For a moment, neither of them moved, and he could feel his blood pusher faltering in his chest when he noticed the flash of rage in the Empress's eyes. Curling her lips and leaning forward to bring her face closer to his, her magenta eyes drilled into his as she hissed sharply, "Release them. Now."

The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife, and Eridan's first instinct was to obey her and beg for forgiveness. But he held on to the sheets nevertheless and shrank back from the Empress, shaking his head once, breathlessly. "No," he replied, with a hell of a lot more courage than he felt. 

That one word was all it took for the Condesce to become livid. "You dare defy me?" she seethed, slapping him harshly across the face. She tore the blankets right out of his fingers, ripping the fabric in the process, and tossed the sheets as far across the room as she could. She dug her nails into his newly exposed shoulders, drawing a startled cry of pain from his lips, and leaned in with a wicked snarl plastered onto her face. "I am your Empress," she spat, intentionally smattering his face with droplets of spit. "I own you now. I always have. I own every single person on this planet, _guppy_ , and you will obey your Empress or face the culling drones. You'll learn your place, and you will submit, and you will be _mine_. Am I clear?"

Eridan was given no chance to respond, though he doubted he would've managed it. Instead the Condesce swooped down onto his face with her own and planted her lips forcefully on top of his, making no effort to keep her sharp teeth away from his delicate skin. He cried out in protest and squirmed underneath her, but she merely took advantage of the opportunity to shove her tongue into his mouth, dominating him, owning him, exploring every inch of the new territory. He found himself trying to halfheartedly combat the intrusion with his own tongue, only to have her teeth turn it into her own personal pincushion, releasing a flood of violet blood into his mouth. Choking and gasping, he pushed against her desperately with his hands and gave muffled pleas for mercy, for forgiveness, trying to insist that he would behave and do as she asked him to. It took far longer than he'd have like, but eventually the Empress finished ravaging his mouth and pulled back with a distinct fire in her eyes, watching as he struggled to get the blood out of his mouth. For a while she didn't do anything, simply watched him floundering exactly like the fish out of water that he was, until eventually her expression began to soften into something more sinister and smug, and sickly sweet. She lifted one tender finger to wipe away a stream of blood that had escaped from the corner of his mouth, and wiped it away on the sheets beneath them. Eridan made a strangled attempt at speaking.

"What's that, little guppy?" she purred, waiting patiently for him to find his words while she watched him like a meowbeast observing a squeakbeast that was about to become its dinner.

"Forgivve...," Eridan finally managed to splutter, breathing heavily. "Please... forgivve me, your Highness, ah, god... I'm sorry-- I'm sorry, I'll listen..." Apparently, this was music to the Condesce's ears. She made a delighted sound and cupped his face gently-- too gently-- between soft, cool hands.

"I do hope so," she murmured pleasantly. "Because if you don't, if you break your promise to your Empress, then I can assure you there's a lot more where that came from, and a lot worse. Now then... shall we continue?"


End file.
